With the costs of going to college skyrocketing, the thought of being able to afford higher education can be frightening. Increased cutbacks from the federal and state governments have forced many colleges and universities to raise their tuition rates on an almost yearly basis. This places an additional financial burden on students and their parents in a time where everyone is struggling to make ends meet with the current economic climate. Banks have tightened up their requirements on private education loans and federal student aid has been a victim to cutbacks. Unless you have a trust fund or your parents have been saving for your education since you were born, what is a student to do? Scholarships can help finance your education, and contrary to popular belief, you do not have to have a perfect 4.0 GPA from high school to qualify for many of them.

According to FastWeb.com, a Web site that offers free assistance with scholarship searches claims that approximately $2 billion in private scholarships are up for grabs each year with an average award of $2,000 being given. The odds of winning a scholarship are not too bad with 1 out of 13 students winning a scholarship.

There is a wide variety of scholarships available for all different types of students. Whether you are a brain, a jock, or an artistic genius, you are bound to find a scholarship in which you are eligible to apply. There are scholarships that award students for their community involvement or based on their nationality. Amazingly enough, there is even a scholarship for creating the best prom dress out of duct tape, if you are willing and daring enough to go to the prom in it.

You do have to set your mind to locating scholarships and be confident to just ask around your community also to see what may be available. One place to check are with you or your parents’ place of work as some employers offer scholarships to their employees and their family members. Another place to check is where your family does their banking. Many local banks and credit unions offer scholarships to their members. With a little effort on your part, you may be able to substantially reduce your tuition costs with scholarships and avoid going into debt with student loans.

Dawn is an experienced freelance writer, editor, and researcher for online writing company and college textbooks. She holds an MBA from Franklin University and provides writing services in the fields of economics, personal finance, and business forensics.

Guest article provided by Ricky

Tuition fees for college have been on the rise for the past few years and it is getting increasingly tough to find money to cover the costs of higher education. So it’s really no surprise that scholarship programs are more in demand than ever.

So if you aspire to go to college with a scholarship, you are going to have to pull out all the stops and set yourself apart from the competition. Here’s how:

Volunteering

Volunteering in any capacity shows that you are willing to give back to your community and will generally reflect well on you. In particular though, if you can volunteer in a capacity related to your area of study you will show real commitment to your field.

See a Guidance Counselor

Your guidance counselor is there to help you with your applications, he will have a lot of experience and getting to know him will enable him to pick out your strengths and help you to make the most of them.

Contact Colleges

There is never any harm in doing research and when considering colleges it is worth checking whether they have any internal scholarships that you might be eligible for. If you are accepted for more than one of your choices this could be a deciding factor.

Local Scholarships

You might be surprised by just how many small local scholarship opportunities exist. Ask around with local businesses, councils etc… Local programs are also generally much less competitive too.

Apply For Small Scholarships

There are some smaller grants available and the competition is lower because most students don’t bother. If you can apply for a $200 grant you might have a pretty good chance of getting it and it’s certainly worth half an hour for the application. Every little helps.

Start Early

The best scholarships fill up early and applying at the last minute is a dangerous thing to do. Aside from that, you have to believe that applying early looks good – if your application goes in on the final day it makes you look disorganised or unmotivated.

Start researching your financial options in your first year of high school, make a list and make a plan so that you know what you need to do. Additionally, applying early will take the stress out of your final year and you will have more time to focus on getting good grades instead.

Letters Of Recommendation

If you have researched your options early like you should you will have plenty of time to think about who could give you a letter. Make the effort now to cultivate relationships so that when the time comes you will have someone you can ask.

Start Saving

Finally, remember that there are a lot of people who want to be bankrolled for their degree, put in 100% of your effort into getting a place, but don’t rely on being successful. Start saving now so that if you don’t get a scholarship, or if it is small that you had hoped you will still be able to go.

About the author:

This guest post was written by Ricky from CurrencyConverter, check out our currency widget here or browse the site for more financial tips and information.

Guest article provided by EssayTask

The process of applying for scholarship programs is almost the same as for all other funding programs:

Steps and considerations

1. Send an email to the institution where you want to study
2. Ask all your questions about the program, about scholarship possibilities and about the requirements for admission.
3. Gather the required documents and send them through courier to the institution.
4. If you have any questions about the respective procedures and/or documents required, don’t hesitate to contact the school in question.
5. You then need to wait for the letter of acceptance.
6. Most universities often require 4 to 8 weeks in order to review all your documents.
7. You must see what options are available for your study field.

You must write the best cover letter ever! As an option you may consider contacting specialized companies providing custom writing services and order a customized cover letter that will look professional in the eyes of the employer.  What should you include in a cover letter?

Normally you should include the following:

What did you study previously?

Try to briefly describe the studies that you did so far, and explain in a brief manner about those that interest you. Keep in mind your preferences and component lifestyle at the time you chose the program. They must have information about your background.

Why do you wish to study this program at this respective university?

In this part remember to be extremely specific. Think about it for yourself first and then write in your own words. You must refer to the quality of the institution worldwide etc. In this part you have to sell yourself to the organization that awards the scholarships, and then you have to think why this program is good for you.

What do you do with all that knowledge after completing your studies?

You have to think for yourself what you want to accomplish with your studies. In this part you have to describe your plans, pretty much your own vision of your future. For example, if you want to stay in a specific country for future studies or employment and so on.

Motivation

You need to show motivation without exception. You may be asked to write a paper, in this case, remember to describe the research topic of the thesis you want to do in order to finish your studies. If you already have some interesting ideas, they can be described by using the characteristics of the specific institution or the city where you want to study.

An organization that provides scholarships can invest money in you. Yet, you need to prove them why they should. What will you do with such an investment? You have to think a bit on the profile of the organization as well: for example, if you want to stay.

Options are infinite, try opening your eyes so you can stay tuned and aware. Don’t hesitate to ask for professional assistance. A tight budget will not stop you from achieving your dreams! The more you look around the better it is. An extensive research will do.

About EssayTask

EssayTask.com employs professional English speaking writers therefore, by ordering our custom writing services you can be sure your paper will be written to your best expectations.

Guest post provided by Jeff

When it comes to paying for college most of the time incoming students are up the creek without a paddle. The average college tuition for four years at an average public college is $20,000 when a private college is in the range of $35,000. Most 18 year olds haven’t even heard those numbers used in real life when they are first applying to colleges. How does a college student expect to pay to get an education when the figures are this high? There are four ways that students generally use to pay for their college. They are student loans/financial aid, grants, scholarships, and mommy/daddy. In this day and age it doesn’t matter what route you pick or are able to go you just need that education.

Student loans/Financial aid is the most popular way that college is paid for. Once you are accepted into college the, school of your choice will send you information on how to apply for student loans. Don’t be frightened by these numbers and the thought that you will have to pay off the balance once you graduate and might not have a job. There are CEO’s of companies that make 10 million dollars a year that are still paying off their student loans. How is this possible? Most student loans have little to no interest rate. With little to no interest rate there is no point in forking up all that money up front, you have the ability to sit on it for as long as you’d like making the lowest payments you can.

Grants are similar to student loans in the sense that you normally apply to them once you are accepted into the college of your choice. However, you don’t have to pay these back… AT ALL! Grants are generally need based which means they don’t have to be paid back. You will have to meet some criteria however to even qualify to receive grants let alone get the grant. Anyone with a grant will tell you that it’s the way to go but sometimes you aren’t accepted and will have to pay for your college education via some other medium.

Scholarships are another great way to pay for college. There are thousands of scholarship programs out there that anyone has the ability to apply for, however some have very specific needs that must be met for you to even qualify. You can’t apply for the left handed scholarship if you are left handed for example.

The last way that students generally use to pay for college is having their parents pay for them to go to school. This is generally when they are well off and won’t qualify for grants or financial aid because their parents made to much the past year. It is in no way demeaning or means that the student is spoiled, they were just blessed with wealthy parents. You can still apply for scholarships even if your parents are wealthy however so don’t rule that option out.

About the author:

Jeff works in the financial aid department at a local community college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

By Val Johnston

Have you ever wondered why so many job boards ask for your career intentions as you are signing up? Many of them ask you your level of education, then a pop up screen will ask what seems like redundant questions regarding your name, address, phone number and current occupation. These, what I call stealth type pop up screens, will sometimes also promise scholarships and financial aid one you click on the “Get information” tab. These information brokers usually have nothing to do with Monster or Career Builder or any other site you are on. They pay very good money to be able to float their pop up ad on the job website. Most of the time the information is sold to Technical Colleges desperate for people to enroll. So you will end up on a call list to become a dental tech.

Getting information to sell to these schools is a lucrative business. The people that blindly fill out the questionnaire sometimes don’t even realize what they are doing. Even Facebook ads are touting scholarships for high school seniors on the sidebar ads. With Facebook ads you can choose your demographics and pinpoint the ad to show up on the page of all the high school seniors in a particular area. The ad for the high school seniors can actually be sponsored by the U.S. Army, or even a dance studio. They don’t have to divulge who they are. When you click on the ad you become their property and they can whisk you to any web page to cull information from you. That information can and will be sold.

So how do you protect yourself from the vultures of the web? Make sure you know exactly who you are filling out a form for. Do not blindly fill in your information because you think you are on a particular web site. The job sites and job boards are especially infamous for allowing these pop up ads.
If you know that you have filled out an information form for a job site, examine any other requests for your information. Leave any boxes unchecked that offer career or scholarship information be sent to you. If you want school information, go to the school directly for information.

If you are interested in attending a technical school, do your research before you attend. There are thousands of technical schools and some are good, while some are very bad. While investigating massage schools that the state requires only 30 hours instruction and to pass a test, it was discovered that some technical schools had a two year course that cost over $17,000. Other technical schools charged $5,000 to get the same certification and took three months.

Many schools claim a 80- 98% job placement rate with their students. From my understanding this rate is not reported to any governing agency. So the school can make up any untrue rate they wish to advertise. Usually, a good question is to ask is if the school works with any known local company with job placement. Then call that company to see how many people they hired.

Knowing what subject you want to take, researching the costs, state requirements if certification is required and placement is very important. Be careful with your private information.

By Val Johnston

In your last year of high school, you may feel overwhelmed when thinking about college. Childhood dreams of becoming an architect, or a surgeon, or a teacher are discussed with your guidance counselor, and you realize that every career you’ve imagined requires a college education. Your guidance counselor will also probably tell you even celebrities, world-famous musicians, and professional athletes usually have an education to fall back on. Your fantasies of being the next Bon Jovi are to be put on hold for the next two to four years while you listen to the advice of the adults in your life and embark on a college career. Luckily, in America, scholarships for high school seniors are readily available for those who want them. You may be surprised at how easy these scholarships are to apply for and receive, and at how many scholarships are available to you.

Scholarships are often merit-based, or rewarded based on outstanding academic, athletic, or artistic abilities. These scholarships may be given out to students who score well on standardized tests, such as the SAT. They may be rewarded to a star athlete who has shown consistent performance and desire to grow. They may be rewarded to students who demonstrate skill in music and the arts. They may also be given to students who have maintained a high grade point average throughout high school. These scholarships are given by colleges and private organizations. An example is the 1824 Scholarship, given by Cazenovia College outside Syracuse, NY. This scholarship is based on test scores, academic grade point average, and rank within your graduating class; they prioritize applicants in the top tenth of their graduating class. This may seem unfair until you consider the amount of the scholarship: up to $19,137 per school year. When a college or organization plans to give away a large sum of money, they will no doubt choose the most worthy applicant based on the criteria stated above. If you have been an excellent student through high school, or even if you have been an average student who occasionally excels at something, consider a merit-based scholarship.

If you don’t qualify for a merit-based scholarship, don’t worry! There are many other types of scholarships offered. Some are offered based on financial need; you can go to FAFSA.gov and fill out an online application. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This government website is available to all students planning to enroll in college. By entering your families financial information, the website determines how much scholarship money/grants you are eligible for, and gives you information on how to obtain these funds. Grants can be directly deposited to a school to pay for educational expenses, or can be deposited in a personal account to assist you with paying for expenses throughout the school year.

Other scholarships are student-specific. These scholarships are often called minority scholarships, as they are given to members of a minority planning to attend college. For example, Bill and Melinda Gates have funded the Gates Millennium Scholars Program, a scholarship that benefits outstanding Latino, African American, Asian Pacific Islander, and American Indian students. Academic excellence is important, but the only qualification to receive this reward is belonging to that minority group.

Scholarships for high school seniors sometimes are given based on admission to a specific program of study. A good example of this is the CHANCES Scholarship Program, given by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. This scholarship provides $16,000 a year for up to two years to students who wish to study pediatric nursing. High school seniors must have a GPA of 3.0 and have been accepted into a college nursing program; they must also submit letters of recommendation, a resume, and an essay on why they want to become a pediatric nurse. In addition, the student is required to work for 18 months at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as a registered nurse each time they are rewarded a year of the scholarship. These scholarships offer good opportunities to students who are already committed to a career and often lead to job placements after college.

It is easy and rewarding to obtain a scholarship, and you, too, can benefit from all the scholarships offered to graduating seniors. Start by talking to your high school guidance counselor. They can often provide you with a list of available scholarships, help you with submitting the application, and give you helpful tips on writing essays/resumes and filling out the application. Then talk to others in your community and find out about local organizations that may offer scholarships. Finally, go to the Internet and search for scholarships offered. The internet is a good place to find a scholarship specific to your needs and interests. Even if you think you don’t qualify for a scholarship, it’s important to apply. Every year scholarships go without being rewarded because not a single student applies. That could be free money to you! Take the time to apply for scholarships, because even if your aspiration is to be a rock star, rock stars children will need to hear that everyone needs a college education.

Val Johnston

A huge worry for high school seniors is college. A lot of students opt for community college before making the transfer to settle in more easily, where financial aid covers costs, but tuition is still extremely high when attending college and payment is one of a students’ biggest fears. Nobody wants to go into debt with tons and tons of loans, and leave with a degree and thousands of dollars owed to the government, so looking into scholarships is a brilliant option. There are scholarships for all kinds of different things. Scholarships generally aren’t hard to obtain, but it’s about finding the right one, the best one that a student can in order to help them out. When most people think of scholarships, they think of sports or music, but that isn’t the only case. Scholarships are offered for a wide variety of talents and even random things.

Scholarships for high school seniors are not difficult to find. A simple google search will show you endless results. There are the obvious ones, such as the Army ROTC scholarship. This particular one is a full scholarship. The army pays completely for schooling and isn’t available just to a short list of specific schools, it is available to many students at a huge list of colleges through the US. Then there are less known but just as helpful scholarships, like the Healthy Lifestyles Scholarship, which began in 2008 in memory of occupational therapist, Joan Whitworthe. It is a scholarship of $5,000 available to not only seniors, but first year college students under 25. All you have to do is submit an essay, under 1,000 words, describing why a healthy lifestyle is important and then a second 500 word essay talking about your own ambitions and plans. Scholarships are not as difficult as some people think they are and they are very helpful. The cost of tuition, books, and general life adds up. Few people leave college with a degree and no debt at all, but a scholarship can help to lessen that by quite a bit.

People also often assume that scholarships are only offered to students with outstanding GPA’s and through the government, which is also false. Tons and tons of independent companies offer scholarships for students who excel in other areas besides academics. A perfect GPA isn’t a necessity to be eligible. It never hurts to just apply, at the very least. You never know what you may end up getting rewarded with and even if it “isn’t much”, that not much is still going to be a great aid. Applying can be a process of hard work and a lot of writing, but it is worth it in the end. Many people are misinformed about the requirements for scholarships and what it takes to get one and who can even get one, most people don’t realize the variety of scholarships available and all the ways that a person is eligible. High school seniors should always look into their options and pursue whatever is available to help them out with their future.

There are several foundations and companies that reward money every year to people of Hispanic origin in order to further their education, you just have to search. Clorox has a scholarship directed towards Hispanics and it has a hefty bounty. The HSF/Clorox Gracias Mama Scholarship Program awards 5 Latino High School Seniors with $12,000 each to use towards their college of choice. The requirements are as follows: be of Hispanic Heritage, U.S. citizen, legal permanent resident, or eligible non-US citizen, must be a four-year college freshman in 2012-2013 enrolled full-time at a U.S. accredited institution in the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, or Guam, have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, must apply for federal financial aid by completing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Yes this scholarship has a list of requirements, but it is a nice prize at $12,000. In order to complete the application process have your essay caps on, because you must submit a 500-word essay detailing the role your mother or mother figure has played in your education. Once essays are reviewed, fifteen finalists will be given a camera to create a video on how their mother influence their decision to attend college. Once the videos are complete, they will be uploaded to Clorox Latino Facebook page and the fans will support their favorite. Five winners will ultimately be selected to receive $12,000 scholarships and their mothers will receive a $500 spa day certificate! Please visit www.hsf.net/clorox.aspx for official rules and application, and be sure to hurry, the deadline is January 18th, 2012.

Colgate -Palmolive has a scholarship directed to Hispanics called “Haz La U” (“Make the U”) that is opened to eligible high school seniors planning on attending college fall 2012. There are a total of eleven scholarships awarded including a top recipient award of $15,000 and ten $2,500 awards. Students must be of Hispanic American heritage, be a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident of the U.S. and all legal permanent residents must submit a copy of their valid permanent resident care or passport stamped I-551. Students must also have a minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, plan on pursuing your first undergraduate degree, plan on enrolling full-time to an accredited institution in the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, or Guam during the 2012-2013 academic year, must be a current graduating high school senior enrolling in a two-year college or four-year institution in the 2012-2013 academic year, and must apply for federal financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You may find all the info and the application at www.hsf.net/haz_la_u_scholarships.aspx.

The Hispanic Scholarship Fund is an excellent source for scholarships for Hispanics in order to attend college, their website is www.hsf.net. This is a very informative website, but if you want to jump directly to the scholarships, you may scroll over the scholarships link located at the top of the page and select scholarship home from the drop down menu that will appear. Once you are at the home page, you may select current high school students, and it will provide you with a list of scholarships that you can get more information on. Happy Hunting.

Scholarships for high school seniors are in abundance thanks to technology and the use of the internet. It used to be that you only knew about scholarships from your counselor or teachers but now with the convenience of the internet scholarships are everywhere to be found. All you have to do is look. In this article I will provide you with several examples of scholarships as well as details needed to apply for them. By simply goggling scholarships for high school seniors you can find many more on you own from your own computer. And the best part of scholarships? Somebody wants to give your money to pay for college. All it takes is your time and dedication to completing the application process correctly and you can be earning money to help pay for your college in no time. Remember when looking for scholarships, no matter how small, scholarship money is money that you do not have to pay yourself. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Here is one example of a scholarship for high school seniors called “Stuck at Prom.” This opportunity is for the light hearted person who wants to have some fun at prom. The rules are you and your date have to make your prom clothes entirely out of duct tape. To apply for the scholarship copy and paste the following into your browser: Duckbrand.com/promotions/stuck-at-prom.aspx At this site you can upload your photo and provide the needed information for the scholarship. First prize is a $2500 award. This is a scholarship that everyone can apply for regardless of their experience or GPA. So go ahead take the challenge today! This is one of many scholarship opportunities for high school seniors found on the internet.

Another one of many scholarships for high school seniors is called “the Sammy Awards 2012.” This scholarship is sponsored by the “Got Milk?” campaign and is for high school athletes. This scholarship is for the student who excels in academic and had completed community service who understands the importance of eating a healthy breakfast complete with a glass of milk. The first place award is $7500. To apply or to find out more information visit this website. https://www.facebook.com/BodyByMilk?sk=app_137616136346477 This site will provide you with everything you need to know on getting started with the application process. If you have worked hard as an athlete and still managed to find time to donate to your community make sure you take the time to apply for scholarships, you have earned it.

A third of many available scholarships for high school seniors is through a club called Tall Clun International. Each year they sponsor many students by providing them with a $1000 (yes a $1000!) just for being tall. Males need to be a minimum of 6”2 and females need to be a minimum of 5”10 to apply for this scholarship. If you are tall this is an easy way to earn an extra $1000 for college. To see a list of complete requirements and to apply for this scholarship visit their website by copying and pasting the following into your browse: Tall.org/scholarships.cfm This scholarship promotes being proud to be tall. If you are tall then this scholarship is a simple way to earn a thousand dollars to support your college education.

Above are 3 Scholarships for high school seniors. The first is a fun and creative way to earn money for college. The second is a way to earn money by the hard work you put in being an athlete and completing community service. The last scholarship is one provided to students just because they are tall. These 3 scholarships differ greatly in their qualifications but they are great examples as to why you need to use the internet to look for more scholarship opportunities for high school seniors. There are scholarships out there for everything these days! So what are you waiting for? Start looking and applying today!

When searching for scholarships, it is many of times, better to find the weird scholarships that limit the amount of eligible entries to increase your odds at winning. This is when you need to get out the paper and think of every single attribute you have, every skill no matter how minute or ridiculous you think it to be. This particular scholarship focuses on high school seniors that have the gift of duck calling. The lucky winners, yes there are four winners, who will receive scholarships toward any school and field of study ranging from $500-$2,000!

The game plan, pack your gear and get ready to make a trip to Arkansas, (if you don’t already live there), and get your game face on. Each contestant has 90 seconds to use four duck calls: hail, feed, comeback, and mating while adhering to the rules ordained by the World Champion’s Duck Calling Contest. If this lingo is familiar tongue, sorry, this one isn’t for you! This scholarship has actually been around for 36 years, awarding more than $60,000 in scholarships to students spreading through 32 different colleges and 13 states. This scholarship is in memory of the legendary duck callers and call makers, Chick and Sophie Major and started out as a $500 single prize. While you are there for the contest, enjoy the duck festival which spans over several days and includes good food and entertainment. Although there is no entrance fee, you do have to register through the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce in Stuttgart, Ark. Have no idea where this quaint community is? You can find all the information at here or simply go to www.stuttgartarkansas.org and locate the duck festival link, once there you will then select scholarship contest. This scholarship is open to any graduating high school senior in the United States, remember everyone has something to offer, the scholarship is out there for you, you just have to find it!

Duck calls not up your alley? Are there not many people that can stand up your alley? If you are one of the vertically gifted, there is a chance you can win some money for college. Tall Clubs International Student Scholarships offers awards to students every year who meet their requirements of females who stand a minimum of 5’10” and males a minimum of 6’2”, under 21 years of age, and entering their first year of college in the fall following the award. If this is you, then the next thing you must do is locate a member of the TCI (Tall Clubs International) in order for them to sponsor you. All you need to do is visit www.tall.org and select the scholarship link to the left of the screen and read. If you are not familiar with TCI, they have a link to locate your closest branch and you may request sponsorship via email. This may sound like a chore, but for free money for school, it is not much work. The recipient of the scholarship will be awarded 1,000 for their freshman year.